Hi, my Macbook Pro, I believe it's from 2009 does not work without it's charger. As in it complete shuts off when I take it out, and then I have to reboot it when I plug it back in. The peculiar thing is that my clock always reset to Sunday January 1st, 2000, and my Wifi is never remember. Other than that, it functions normally for the most part. I don't think this has to do with the battery, but it also says that the Battery is never charging. Anyone have any advice on how I can fix this? I am willing to fix it on my own if it is a physical hardware problem. Thank you so much in advance.
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MacBook Pro turns off without the charger (Help please)
- Thread starter Kiroji
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Try iFixit for teardown instructions. Have you tried putting a new battery in it? Or running Coconut Battery to see what it says about your current one.
My older MacBook Pro was doing this. Every time I unplugged it the computer just shut off. It ended up being a dead battery. I replaced it and everything went back to normal.
Take it to Apple, they can diagnose it. Aside from swapping out the battery it's not user serviceable.
Try resetting the SMC. See the link for troubleshooting MagSafe adapters at the bottom of the CHARGING section of the following link. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
Thank you for all your answers, but I tried to reset the SMC and it didn't work. I took it to Apple and they said it was a Motherboard issue, I don't know what I could do if it's an issue like that. Would I have to take it apart and replace it?
Unless you're very experienced in hardware work on Macs, I wouldn't attempt that. Let Apple do it.
Look...plain and simple. If the computer powers on while plugged into charger and works but NOT without a charger on battery life it IS your battery. Take it into Apple. So depending on the size/model of your portable and whether its in warranty or not its going to be either be free under warranty, $99+tax, or $129+tax. So yes your battery is dead. It will take 10-15 min to get the genius bar to swap it out and get it back to you. Make an appointment prior to going and go get it swapped.
Ok well I ask you OP then, was this just someone giving you this conclusion of the motherboard while you were in there or did a technician/genius plug it up and run a hardware test. If they didn't run a hardware test on it, I would take it back. Now if they did plug it up and run hardware test and said this then yes your logic board may be the culprit in either not recognizing the battery correctly or the battery connector may have issues.
Im still 99.9% sure (if not already run through hardware test there) that its your battery. Good luck OP
Since the OP took their MBP to Apple, I'll make a wild guess that the Apple techs who actually saw the computer are in a better position to troubleshoot the issue than someone on a forum who hasn't even seen the computer in question. There are several possible sources of the problem, including the adapter and the logic board. There is nothing in the OP's posts that point to a high probability that it's the battery, and certainly not anything that would give credence to a "99.9% probability". You're just guessing.
Yes I am someone on a forum. You don't me and you don't know what I do for a living. For all you know, which you don't, I'm perfectly qualified or certified to make that assumption or percentage guesstimate about the battery. And I hope you do realize that there are far more employees in an Apple store who are in sales, inventory, or business who are NOT certified, who DO NOT know pricing and or troubleshooting solutions than those who are and can. And therefore can/will/DO pull solutions and ideas out their ass. So his chances (IF he didn't go through an appointment) of talking to one of them other than genius for a hardware test is more possible.
So how bout you take 2 steps back and lets see if the OP talked to a genius at the store or if he walked in and talked to the first person he saw without a hardware test. I did say IF he didn't in my post.
It has nothing to do with your qualifications, or lack thereof. There is simply not enough information presented in this thread to make a 99.9% accurate assessment of the source of the problem, and your claiming such displays a lack of experience.
I doubt very seriously the OP is foolish enough to take their computer to Apple, only to talk to a sales rep, instead of going to the Genius Bar. Even if they asked a sales rep, computer in hand, most reps would simply direct them to the Genius Bar, as they wouldn't know enough to even attempt to diagnose the problem.
K forget the 99% assessment. And not saying OP is foolish, but yes until they say they went through an appointment. I'm not counting the chances that happened out.
Nope, saw that only that I don't take everything a Genius says as Godspell.
I am not saying the Genius is wrong BUT, because I used to in the the biz and not just guessing... a 3 years old laptop, first suspect is battery. Looking at the charge cycle doesn't cost anything, u don't have to download an app, why not have that piece of information?
Either the genius is correct and it's the motherboard, typically referred to by Apple as the logic board, or it's just a dead battery. The clock reset suggests a dead cmos battery. Here's an ifixit link that mentions that part. This would require a new logic board. You might see if depot service is offered here for out of warranty repair. Did you purchase this used? You mention not knowing which one. You have to know exactly what macbook pro or macbook you own to know if any do it yourself repair options are available. Without that information anything anyone can link is useless. It's also possible that the dead cmos battery killed off your main battery if the Mac relied on it to keep time after that point. I'm not sure if it works that way, but if it isn't charging, it's possible.
Their standard recommendations can be quite expensive out of warranty, and some of them are far from being geniuses. The OP really needs to take his info from about this mac and reference it with something like everymac or mactracker to ensure he provides the right model. Beyond that asking the genius for further detail may have been a good idea.
If the OP is right about the year model of their MBP, I don't believe there is a CMOS or PRAM/NVRAM battery (or backup battery, as Apple calls it) for that model.
Mac notebooks: Identifying the right battery--US
Macintosh Family: Batteries and Part Numbers, Part 2
I do agree that starting with an accurate identification of the OP's MBP model is essential. While it's relatively safe to expect that such information, along with battery condition, was determined during the visit to the Apple store, I'm quick to acknowledge that "Genius" is only their job title, and not necessarily an indication of their knowledge, experience or expertise, and they're certainly not infallible. Having said that, there's nothing in this thread that causes me to suspect a wrong diagnosis from Apple, or that causes me to assume that the OP got their information from a sales rep or other non-technical employee.Macintosh Family: Batteries and Part Numbers, Part 2
Hopefully, the OP will respond again with more factual information to replace the assumptions being made here.
My ifixit link was for the macbook, but it mentioned the early 2009 lacking a replaceable cmos battery. That function is still maintained somewhere. It's just not in the form of a removable battery. The unibody models from around that time are similar in appearance, so there is a lot of room for error in model number/type.
In my past experiences, they look at it. If something is wrong, they'll say it needs to be sent in. Some of them will perform minor diagnostics. I know that a typical dead battery will not reset the clock.
Given that a MB replacement is ALOT of mulla, I make the superficial assumption OP wants to investigate further, ask more questions. I mean I WOULD. One thing is to spend $600 vs $150.
Kinda of a side-note, I can't understand why any notebook's MB would make use of a clock/cmos battery. This item is from the olden days of desktop for when shut down completely, potentially all power are removed and clock/cmos dead, but a laptop ALWAYS has a power source, really making a "cmos" battery superfluous. BUT, am not up to day on Mac's innards, so just curiosity.
Adding to the last post, a small capacitor can maintain power for a short while for clock/cmos, like in your TV remotes when u change battery, it doesn't loose its settings.
Kinda of a side-note, I can't understand why any notebook's MB would make use of a clock/cmos battery. This item is from the olden days of desktop for when shut down completely, potentially all power are removed and clock/cmos dead, but a laptop ALWAYS has a power source, really making a "cmos" battery superfluous. BUT, am not up to day on Mac's innards, so just curiosity.
Adding to the last post, a small capacitor can maintain power for a short while for clock/cmos, like in your TV remotes when u change battery, it doesn't loose its settings.
It's my understanding that MBP and MBA models from 2009 and later no longer have a CMOS battery, that function now being served by the primary battery. If that is accurate (documentation on that is somewhat obscure), it would explain the clock reset when a battery depletes fully.
Damn you for knowing more than me
. Hehe.. I actually didn't know that was the reason the cmos battery no longer exists. If it is just a dead battery, it's only $130 or so, but I don't know how the store genius made their assessment.
As the OP's battery still shows good health (if that reading is accurate), it appears that something else in the trio of primary charging components (battery, power adapter, logic board) is the culprit. As the power adapter can still power the MBP, that leaves the logic board as the primary culprit. However, I would hope that actual hardware tests were performed, rather than relying simply on logical determination.Damn you for knowing more than me
Edit: I found an explanation at iFixIt.com, but haven't found any "official" source to corroborate this:
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